The Honorable Sam Graves
Chair
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
The Honorable Rick Larsen
Ranking Member
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
Dear Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen:
The undersigned organizations applaud your leadership on reauthorizing our Nation’s surface transportation and infrastructure programs. A world-class infrastructure system is not only critical to ensuring America’s safety, mobility, quality of life, and global competitiveness, but will help create and support millions of well-paying jobs.
As the Committee crafts this important legislation, we urge you to address four primary challenges:
- Improving Safety and Reliability of Our Nation’s Infrastructure. American travelers, workers, and businesses rely on a reliable and safe and reliable transportation system . We urge the Committee to e-affirm the Department of Transportation’s commitment to safety as its highest priority. Further smart federal investments can support that goal while ensuring reliable infrastructure for the next 50 years. The Department, States, and local governments must therefore have the tools and resources to plan investments and deliver infrastructure that anticipates trade and travel shifts, and responds effectively to events like the Francis Scott Key Bridge incident or weather-related events like coastal erosion.
- Maintaining Sufficient Funding Levels. A world-class infrastructure system is critical to moving people and goods safely and efficiently. Underinvestment in our nation’s infrastructure led to deferred maintenance of and investments in roads, bridges, transit systems, ports, railroads, and other projects critical to our nation’s competitiveness and the mobility of millions of Americans. More recently, though, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “Report Card for America’s Infrastructure” have shown two consecutive years of improvement. We urge you, therefore, to maintain necessary funding levels that build on the investments of the previous reauthorization.
- Modernizing the Permitting Process. Today, one of the biggest obstacles to building infrastructure is the broken permitting process. There is enormous demand to improve our nation’s roads, bridges, transit systems, ports, and railroads but the current rules and processes are frequently unwieldy and inconsistent across the federal government that frequently add seven or more years to review timelines, not counting litigation that may arise. Congress must make meaningful improvements to the federal permitting process to provide greater predictability, efficiency, and transparency and create certainty for the States, engineers, construction firms, and workers who bring these investments to our communities.
- Fixing the User Fee. Congress must take bold action to restore the “user fee” as the primary, sustainable funding source for highway and transit projects. These critical projects are increasingly reliant on general fund transfers, despite Congress historically using revenues generated from user fees like the gas tax, which hasn’t been raised since 1993. This reliance is not only unsustainable, but it directly adds to the national debt and deficit. Further, the current user fees, including the gas tax, must be modernized to reflect the realities of rising construction costs, the improving fuel efficiency of gasoline-powered vehicles, and the growing share of electric vehicles traveling on our roads. We support new and equitable ways to ensure that all users contribute meaningfully to maintaining and improving our nation’s roads, bridges, and transit systems.
We look forward to working with you and your Committee as you advance a new surface transportation and infrastructure bill by September 30, 2026. Your leadership will help support our nation’s workers, travelers, and businesses, while addressing long-term challenges.
Thank you for your attention to our concerns.
Sincerely,
Airports Council International - North America
Alliance for Chemical Distribution
American Association of Port Authorities
American Concrete Pavement Association
American Council of Engineering Companies
American Highway Users Alliance
American Public Transportation Association
American Road and Transportation Builders Association
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Trucking Associations
Associated Equipment Distributors
Associated General Contractors of America
Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Business Roundtable
Intermodal Association of North America
International Union of Operating Engineers
Laborers International Union of North America
National Association of Waterfront Employers
National Industrial Transportation League
National League of Cities
National Lime Association
National Retail Federation
National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association
Portland Cement Association
Transportation Intermediaries Association
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Travel Association
United for Infrastructure
cc: Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
